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Disclaimer. The webmaster of The
Churches of Britain and Ireland is not responsible for the content of adverts,
or the content of sites to which links may be provided.

Please be aware that CD's of photographs
copied from this website have been offered for sale on E-Bay. These copies have been made
without the knowledge or permission of myself, or the many contributors to the
site, and as such contravene the copyright laws. E-Bay removed the item in response to my complaint, but I would appreciate being informed of any further
sightings of this nature.

Quick start - County and Alphabetic Index
here, but please return to read on - there's lots of good stuff!

Introduction

This
website is best viewed in Google Chrome.

My first
website, Images of Cumbria, devoted to the
history of Cumbria, was developed following contact with fellow amateur genealogists from all over
the world who had roots in that most beautiful of English counties. Of all the things
people wanted to see, the most requested were pictures of the churches where their
ancestors were baptised, married and buried. It occurred to me that there isn't a central
resource for finding photographs of the churches of Britain and Ireland - this web-site
aims to rectify this omission. And as the site has expanded, another purpose has become apparent - to serve as a record of churches
and chapels which are fast being
converted to other use, or are about to be, or have been demolished.

The ultimate aim is to have at least one photo of every
existing church in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and the Channel
Islands, and where possible, photos or artwork of churches no longer in existence. And the site isn't restricted to the historic parish churches - photos of
the "churches" of all
religions, denominations and sects are welcome.

There are currently about 31,850
churches on the web-site (and roughly 109,650 photos and illustrations). I have to express my
sincere thanks to the small army of church enthusiasts who have allowed me to use
their photographs, and without whom this would have been a far less comprehensive effort.

If you too would like to become involved,
here's how you can help -

Take a picture of your local church, chapel, temple, meeting house, synagogue, mosque, monastic ruin, prayer room, or even
community centre, as long as someone worships (or did worship) there. Photos of sites of vanished churches are also welcome. There are some useful observations on the etiquette and techniques of photographing churches
here on Michael G. Hardy's website.

"Adopt" an area and cover all of its churches.

Identify photos of Unidentified Churches,
and advise about the current status of churches featured on this website.

On a web-site of this scope, there are bound to be errors,
for which I apologise in advance, but I want to hear about them so they can be corrected.

Before sending your digital
photos or scanned photos to myself (address at the bottom of the page) please read the FAQ page, where copyright issues are addressed. DO NOT send in
photographs taken from the web, or from books, unless you are certain about their
copyright status.

Incidentally, just because a church is already
represented here doesn't mean that other photos of it won't be welcome; if you think that
your photo has something to offer, send it in, though I won't guarantee to use
it.

Regarding copyright - in every case, the copyright remains with
the original photographer; anyone wishing to use any of the photos from this site, for
whatever purpose, should contact the undersigned, and I will put you in touch with the
copyright owner if I can. Of course, if you change email address without letting me know, I won't be able to contact you - so please, if you have contributed to
the website, let me know if you change email address.

Now to the photographs - they can be found by
looking through the Index, which lists place-names by county and alphabetically. There is also a page
for photographs of churches where the location is unknown. Please contact me if you know
where they are.

I occasionally receive comments that places are
in the "wrong county". See here for my reasoning.

Each entry in the indices has a link to a photo or photos
of the church, and where possible another external link to further information about the
church. Its listed building status is also sometimes given, but as these are being added retrospectively, the lack of such a link does not necessarily imply
that it isn't listed. Towns and villages with several churches are given their own sub-index. Where
known, the dedication is included, as is the Ordnance Survey (OS) grid reference which is
preceded by the Landranger map number. For those unfamiliar with the latter, full
instructions for their use can be found on each OS map. Thus Adderbury in Oxfordshire is
given as 151 SP 471 354 - map number 151 and grid reference SP 471 354. As grid references
can also be found on-line now, the map
number will often be omitted. And if you can, provide grid references to 10
digits, as the 6-digit reference is only accurate to 100 metres. Some entries may also have (O) - normally open, (C) - normally closed, or (K) key available.

You may find that some photos are rotated by 90 or 180 degrees. This appears to be a problem only in the Google Chrome browser, and results from the
non-standard way it interprets embedded EXIF data. To overcome this, try using a different browser.

Recommendations for further reading are to be found in
the bibliography. There is also a Useful
Links page, with URL's of many county, denominational and other church related sites.

REQUESTS FOR HELP - I occasionally get requests for help in
obtaining photographs of churches, or for help with a little history for a
church. I can't help with photographs, as all the ones I've taken or received
from contributors will be on the website (except for ones in the "in-box",
waiting to be added). I can sometimes find a website giving a church's history,
or I might have an appropriate book, and will obviously pass on the information.
But usually I can offer nothing - so I've started a new page,
Questions, Questions, passing these requests on to site visitors.